"Also, do we want to leave the middle east with nothing to trade with? Millions of poor muslims with nothing equals millions of jihadis."

I feel like that guy in the Graduate. One word: Plastics. The Middle East could become the major petrochemical center of the world. Since they wouldn't be producing raw crude to be refined and burned to power the world, they'd have enough raw material to last for a couple of centuries. All it would take is some wise investment.

And if, as I suspect, this new technology is going to be plant oriented like the existing utilities industry (i.e., you won't have a "Mr Fusion" powering your DeLorean), it won't be quite as disruptive as it might have been. You could have a reasonable transition to smaller, polution-free power plants that could be used to generate hydrogen and drive that part of the equation, too.

The new technology won't be without risks, however. It sounds like a fusion plant would be less dangerous than a fission plant, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear that you still have nuclear waste issues particularly when a plant has to be refubished or retired. You can't produce neutrons and various hydrogen isotopes without having some nasty side effects. Still, it's bound to be a lot less trouble than spent fuel rods.

All that assuming this isn't just another technological deadend, of course.